A compressor typically comprises a plurality of stages, where each stage includes a set of stationary compressor vanes which direct a flow of air into a rotating disk of compressor blades, where each stage of the compressor decreases in diameter, causing the pressure and temperature of the air to increase. Compressor components having an airfoil, such as compressor blades and compressor vanes, are held within disks or carriers and are designed to aid in compressing a fluid, such as air, as it passes through stages of blades and vanes of the compressor.
Axial compressors having multiple stages are commonly used in gas turbine engines for increasing the pressure and temperature of air to a pre-determined level at which point a fuel can be mixed with the air and the mixture ignited. The hot combustion gases then pass through a turbine to provide either a propulsive output or mechanical output.
Compressor components, such as blades and vanes, have an inherent natural frequency, and when the compressor component is excited, as would occur during normal operating conditions, the compressor component shakes or moves at different orders of the engine natural frequency. When the natural frequency of the compressor component coincides or crosses an engine order, the compressor component can start to resonate or vibrate in such away that it is excited and can cause cracking or failure of the compressor component.